It's likely that you're already aware of the dangers of incorrect posture and/or the health complications you may potentially suffer if you sit for long hours at work. Losing your natural posture can lead to a series of different medical complications that can in turn deteriorate the standard of your living. For example, you can't do much with constant lower back pain. Similarly, you'll be rushing for painkillers if suffer tension headaches twice or thrice a week or have really bad neck cramps. That's no way of living.
However, if we were to guess, you may have at some point, at least looked up the benefits of working standing up and whether it can help correct your poor posture. If you have ever wondered if standing at work can lead to numerous health advantages, then this article is exactly what you have been looking for.
Why Standing Desks Can Help Correct Your Posture
While standing desks may, at first, seem nothing exceptional, it's important to know that they are different than regular desks. How? Well, they offer a high degree of ergonomics. Ergonomics has been a buzzword for quite some time when it comes to workstations, office, and home office accessories, and furniture.
An ergonomic standing desk incorporates design mechanics that are more in line with the shape of your body. For example, a standing workstation is an adjustable desk, which means you can easily set a comfortable height for that table so that you can comfortably stand and work without exhausting your back, wrists, and neck.
Long gone are the days when standing desks meant stacking a couple of thick books under the laptop on the table. Today, you can get a height-adjustable desk that is made with durable materials and excellent load-bearing capacity. These types of desks come with presets, which means you can adjust the height of the table with a tap of a button. This also means you can place your monitor at eye level as well as easily place any other workplace essentials and accessories without hindering your ability to work comfortably.
However, it is true that in a lot of instances, it is not practical to work standing up. For instance, you probably shouldn’t take conference calls or attend virtual meetings standing up. On the other hand, tasks such as typing on the laptop, designing something, doing research, etc. are things that you can and should do while standing up. Try to create the right balance between standing up and sitting down yourself. Try working for 20 minutes standing up and gradually increase this time based on your productivity and comfortability.
Powerful Benefits of Working Standing Up
Working Standing Up Can Help Reduce Your Chances of Gaining Weight
Weight gain occurs when you're constantly absorbing more calories than you can burn. The best way to lose weight is to go on a calorie deficit diet and go to the gym as frequently as you can. While there's no question that running, cycling, and other types of exercise can help you lose weight, you'd be surprised to know that you can further supplement your weight loss journey by working standing up.
As a matter of fact, using an adjustable desk to complete sedentary tasks can help you burn more than 150 calories per day. If you add that up, you can burn up to 750-1000 calories per week. This difference in calories can be an excellent motivator to work standing up.
You Can Experience a Boost in Your Energy Levels
According to one UK study, scientists were able to identify that working on an adjustable desk provided more encouragement to employees to work on their feet. The research found that more than 60% of employees experienced a pleasant boost in their levels of productivity and more than 80% experienced a sudden improvement in their energy levels by just working standing up for more than an hour.
You see, making movements like pacing back and forth while working or tapping your feet while you're brainstorming an idea can help you stay more focused and active. You will begin to feel a lot more engaged in the work you're doing. So, it is strongly recommended that if you feel sluggish or distracted sitting down, try to stand up and work as much as you can.
Standing Up Can Help Enhance Your Wrist Health
Another problem with sitting and working on a laptop for long hours at a time is that your wrists are glued to the keyboard, there's just no other way you can type while sitting down. What this does is that it puts a lot of unwanted stress on your writs, which may lead to pain and discomfort in the long run. Moreover, it can also lead to a condition known as carpal tunnel syndrome. CTS is a condition where the nerves in your wrists become tight and pinched leading to acute pain and discomfort.
A good way to keep your wrists healthy is to use a height-adjustable standing desk. This is going to help keep your wrists in a more natural and pain-free position (preferably at a 90-degree angle). You'll be able to type without your wrists touching the surface of the laptop.
Improves Your Blood Circulation
If you consider human evolution, you will quickly realize that our bodies aren't meant to be sedentary. They're designed for movement. Working standing up keeps our bodies in constant motion. Not only that, you will enhance the muscles of your legs, improve your balance, and gradually optimize your core strength. All three of these things will help keep your blood flow healthy.
Moreover, using a standing desk will also help steer you clear of glaring medical problems such as blood clots. Sitting for hours at a time hunched over a laptop will result in all the blood in your lower body accumulating in your legs, which may inadvertently lead to blood clots.
Standing up means you're putting some degree of stress on your upper and lower body; sort of like being engaged in a short workout. According to studies, it has been determined that people who work sitting down don't have prolonged lifespans and are more susceptible to developing cardiovascular issues.
Bottom Line
All in all, these are some of the best reasons why you should consider making a slight change in your lifestyle. Try to work standing up for as long as you can. Sit down when you feel tired and try to find what works best for you.
